"Come on Hiei, please?" She looked into bored red eyes and hoped that her best pleading tone and look would work their magic on the demon lounging on her balcony wall for the fourth night in a row, "You have to come." He scoffed quietly and looked away in response. Mildly annoyed Kagome bit on the inside of her bottom lip before shooting him another pout, "It wouldn't be any fun if you weren't there. You know that, we're all hopeless without you…"
"While that may be true, this hardly seems worthy of my time."
Well at least he was acknowledging the idea now that was a step in the right direction. Kagome knew that she just had to figure out a new tactic, but she'd have to figure it out quickly if she wanted anything from him. "I know, but it would mean a lot to me…" His eyes flashed to her and she knew that that had been the wrong direction to leap, "to know that I would have someone nearby that could handle it if things got out of control…"
"I am not some kind of mercenary." He nearly growled.
"But what if we're attacked?"
"Yusuke will be there."
"But Hiei…" She sighed, wondering why it should matter, Yusuke was human after all, and so far she'd yet to meet a demon that willingly considered a human an equal, or even all that useful, "You've said it yourself Yusuke and I aren't the best at planning for emergencies like that, if something comes along that we can't handle…" She looked down, trying to appear hopeless, "we'd just be sitting ducks for some demon to gobble up. We need you there to tell us what to do…" The best course of action was appealing to his pride and sense of superiority, if she'd learned anything about him it was that, "especially if… you know something like a few days ago happens again…" He still said nothing, only looked calmly into the distance, "Will you at least think about it?" She demanded sharply, her patience with his silence already starting to wear thin. "I won't stop bugging you until you agree to at least that much." She added, daring to poke his arm and earning a glare in response.
"Very well, I will consider it."
"Thank you Hiei." She wanted to hug him, but knew that he wouldn't allow it so she settled with a smile before he was turning away dismissively.
XXXXX
"You're kidding me right? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."
"It is not!" She bit down on her temper, knowing that if she lost control of it this conversation was going to boil down into an argument and she wasn't going to accomplish anything. "Yusuke, it's not like you have to do anything you know."
"Yeah you say that now, but the next thing you know it's gonna be Yusuke move this, Yusuke fix that, Yusuke get me this… well no thanks, you aren't ropin' me into this one." He sank down onto the couch with his arms crossed and glared at her, trying to ignore the pout she was shooting him, "Don't start Kagome, that look doesn't even work when Keiko uses it."
She broke into a smile, "But Keiko is going to be here, and she's really looking forward to it. You wouldn't want to let her down would you?" She listened to the spluttering sound that was rapidly followed by a scoff he had to have learned from Hiei.
"She can do what she wants. I'm out."
"Yusuke…" She looked away again, nipping at her lip thoughtfully for a moment, "Alright I'll make a deal with you."
"Oh?" He watched her from the corner of his eye.
"I'll do what I want, and you can cook your own meals again."
To borrow a term she'd heard Botan use… Bingo.
XXXXX
The clouds had arrived several days earlier, but they had yet to open up upon them. Still it gave him an excuse to do something he was doing anyway.
It had become almost instinctual to return to that bench each day for lunch, the bench where she would sit with or without him, the bench that he found lonely when he happened to beat her to it, the bench he now had to force himself to avoid. It was almost unnerving, how quickly he had become accustomed to going there, to spending that time with her, how badly he wanted to return to the previous arrangement that had him spending his lunch time with her in the quiet away from the other more bothersome students. Instead lunch found him where most wet days would, seated in his customary desk in the classroom before he had to be there, one hand holding up a book that he hoped would deter others from speaking to him. So far it was having mixed results. Some would see the object and choose to leave him, while the more determined ignored its presence altogether.
He knew she was there the moment the door began to open; somehow he just knew that it was her. It wasn't her scent that alerted him to her, although that intoxicating fragrance washed over him, crawled into him in an attempt to drug his brain. He could hear her as well, and couldn't help wondering when he'd become so aware of her breathing pattern, he could pinpoint exactly when she would inhale, how long it would be before she exhaled, even felt his own lungs attempting to follow the same pattern. He knew the sound of her footsteps, even when she hesitated. He knew that she was crossing the room toward him, and he couldn't help wondering why.
He had been avoiding her and he'd thought that she would be staying away from him as well considering that she'd been upset enough to run away from the bench when he'd nearly lost control and allowed himself to get carried away by urges and moments. That was not something he normally allowed, nor was it something he planned to let happen again. Whatever impulses he had toward her he would have to keep them banked, there were far more important things, such as the mystery she was. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more going on with the girl… who happened to be standing less than a foot from him.
Kurama nearly swallowed as he pushed his thoughts away and realized how close she had come. He wanted to look up at her, but kept himself from doing so, wanting to hear her speak before he acknowledged that he'd sensed her coming. He waited, pretending to be focused on the page, but the characters all blurred together as he waited. Seconds ticked past, and then just when he could barely stand it the edge of a piece of paper brushed softly against his hand that rested on the desk. Pretending to be surprised he looked down at it before finally letting his eyes slide up to her face.
"I've been looking everywhere for you."
"I've been here." He smiled a little before looking back to the paper she'd placed on the desk, took in the neat handwriting and brilliant red marks on the form, "I see you got your exam back."
"I wanted to show you… see my score?"
"Yes, it's very good." He'd put his book down to speak with her, and now found himself smiling back at her overly proud face. To be honest it wasn't remotely the best test score that he'd seen, but it was decent and he couldn't bring himself to destroy the look of joy on her face, which was probably the first time it had been genuine in the time he'd known her, "You should be proud."
Her smile faltered a little as she looked down in embarrassment, but the blush faded and her smile returned once she met his eyes again, "Well I don't know about proud, but I was thinking about celebrating."
"Celebrating?" Over a test score? He'd had so many higher test scores and none of them had ever seemed like a cause for rejoicing.
"Yeah… I'm not sure exactly what we'll be doing yet, but I'll think of something. You're coming over tonight right? I mean… if you're not too busy?"
It had been several days since he'd last gone to see them, and he had expected her to avoid him for several more, but if Kurama was to be honest with himself he had been secretly searching for an excuse to see her again, and probably not just because he had failed to learn anything new about her during their lunchtime conversations and study sessions. "No, I'm not busy at all this evening." He heard several surprised gasps from across the room, and knew Kagome heard them as well from the slightly alarmed look on her face that became a confused one when her eyes found nothing warranting them in that direction. He pressed a bit of his energy toward her, spiking it slightly just to draw her attention, which it quickly accomplished before he dropped his energy again, "Are you certain that Yusuke won't mind? I would hate to cause another near riot."
"Oh, that's nothing to worry about. I invited everyone over, Keiko is going to help me cook and Kazuma was going to help me put up streamers. Besides if you give Yusuke a good meal he's super easy to handle." She smiled again, giggled softly almost under her breath, "He's a loudmouth and kind of hot headed, but he's… got a good heart…" it was something she'd said about another guy Yusuke occasionally reminded her a little of, one that she should have been focusing on helping, but despite her guilt Kagome couldn't help herself, this was her chance to grasp at a normal life for a while. Was she such a bad person for wanting to enjoy a little of it?
She was playing absently with her fingers, and he could see her mood swirling in her expressive eyes. For a moment he wondered if it had something to do with his demonic energy, normally if he used it she would become uneasy and run off, maybe she was looking for an excuse.
"Are you all right Kagome?" He asked softly, watching her jump as the vacant expression that had started settling over her snapped away as she jumped.
"I'm fine." She stood from the chair she'd sunk into moments before, pushing it back into the desk it belonged at, "Thanks Shuichi, I really owe you one."
"Not at all." He watched her go with a small smile, wondering why it amused him so much when she reached the door and turned back to give him a small wave before vanishing down the hall, her scent lingering on the air. Still grinning to himself he returned his attention to the book, but his mind was far away from the printed words. Somehow he had quickly become accustomed to Kagome being around, had even begun looking forward to seeing her. These brief encounters had been the highlight of his day on more than one occasion.
XXXXX
Three rolls of brightly colored tissue paper rested in tight coils on the coffee table, a fourth had rolled onto the floor, leaving a thin trail of colorful paper across the wood and carpet. The roll had landed on the ground next to a sock clad foot.
Kagome sat on the couch with her elbows on her knees and her chin framed by her hands as she stared around the empty living room. She sighed and sank a little deeper into the cushions, closing her eyes.
"Kagome… I'm sure they'll be here any time. They're just a little late. It's nothing." The second girl placed a consoling hand on her shoulder and brushed back her short brown hair with the other, turning her attention to the door and wondering where the others were.
"I know Keiko; it was a stupid idea…" Kagome sighed a little again, but opened her eyes to look at the other girl, "But I did really well on that test."
"I know you did." Keiko stood, "Those boys are just inconsiderate, they don't care about school so it doesn't seem that important to them, but still…" Keiko looked down, "They said they should have shown up, they said they would." Another sigh from Kagome and Keiko looked almost horrified, "Not that they won't, I mean they're just running late is all."
"You don't have to try and cheer me up; at least you came to see me." Kagome forced a smile onto her face, feeling bad for making Keiko feel bad, "You don't have to wait around anymore, I'm sure you've got better things to do."
"No…" Keiko paused, "Just because the boys didn't show up doesn't mean we can't still celebrate on our own. It'll probably even be more fun without them."
"I don't know Keiko."
"You shouldn't let them get you down, we'll go out and do something, and then they'll be sorry that they missed it, and the next time they might just show up on time." Keiko smiled at her, but Kagome continued to look uneasy.
XXXXX
Kagome still wasn't entirely certain how she had been talked into this. Shopping wasn't one of her favorite things in the world, but Keiko seemed to love dragging her into different clothing stores and forcing her to try on outfit after outfit, then giggle at some of the more ridiculous ones before dragging her off to the next one. However now that night had officially fallen and the stores were shutting down Kagome was relieved to find that they were walking home.
The street was still alive despite the hour, people walking and chattering, lights falling in bright yellow squares across the dull sidewalk between the circles provided by the streetlights. Cars whizzed past loudly, people shouted. It should have been exhilarating, but all Kagome could do was hold the handle of her single shopping bag and follow Keiko who marched down the street swinging her three bags as if to knock people out of her way. She had never missed the feudal era quite so much. It was quiet there, and the air didn't smell quite so heavily of exhaust fumes.
Sighing to herself a little Kagome looked around, and didn't notice Keiko until she nearly bumped into her, and in her effort to avoid the collision fell backward onto the hard concrete. Gasping a little Kagome pushed herself back to her feet, rubbing her sore hind end. "Keiko what's…?"
"Oh… I don't believe him!" Keiko gripped the bag handles tightly in her fists and started marching forward, the crowd seeming to part before her.
"Keiko?" Kagome glanced around then rushed after her, mumbling apologies to the people Keiko practically shoved out of her way, wondering what had come over the girl she was walking with.
They moved quickly down the sidewalk before Keiko turned sharply and marched into an open door. Kagome hesitated for only a moment before following. The overwhelming noise swarmed over her, making her head nearly spin. She blinked against the flashing lights and tried to tune out the cheers and annoyed shouts. For a moment the overwhelming atmosphere shocked her, and then Kagome wondered what they were doing in an arcade. Then she heard them, two voices floating over the din to lodge in her ears.
"You're going down Urameshi!"
"You've gotta catch me first."
She followed Keiko's blazing gaze to where the boys were pushing at each other while practically tearing apart the racing games they were sitting in, each cranking the wheel violently in one direction before quickly turning it to another. For a moment her temper flared and she almost eagerly followed Keiko as she stormed across the space between them. But before she could say anything Keiko had again taken the lead.
"Yusuke! What are you doing?"
"Keiko… what are you doing here? Why are you yelling at me?" Yusuke barely glanced up from his game, cursing under his breath as he fought to keep his car on the virtual road.
"What am I doing here? Did you forget something Yusuke? You were supposed to go home after school for Kagome's party, and by the time I got there you still hadn't shown up. What kind of brother are you? Do you have any idea how upset she was? You really hurt her feelings!"
"Oh… come on it was only a stupid test, I'm sure she'll get plenty of good scores we can have stupid parties for."
"Yusuke!" Kagome glared at him, "I worked really hard on that test."
"Kagome!" They both jumped to their feet and spun around to her, "What are you doing here?"
"I took her out shopping after you two decided that playing video games was more important than she was!" Keiko froze and turned to look at her, "Oh… Kagome I… I didn't mean that…"
"Oh, it's alright Keiko, I know." She wasn't as important as video games? Kagome felt her already fragile mood dropping dangerously.
"Kagome… I'm sorry; we were just going to stop for a minute and… I guess we lost track of time."
"It's alright Kazuma…" She looked down.
"Hey, it's better this way anyway, we can hang out and play some games… it's a great way to celebrate anything." Yusuke moved to drop his arm over her shoulders.
"That's okay, I'm kind of tired, but you guys go ahead."
"No, Kagome…" Keiko reached out toward her as she shrugged out from under her brother's arm and turned toward the door, "We'll all go with you."
"That's okay, I know the way home." She fixed a brilliant smile on her face and turned back sharply, "You guys stay and have fun, I'm just going to go get some rest."
She wanted to be angry with them, but she just didn't have the energy suddenly. It had been a stupid idea, she knew that, it was such a dumb thing to want to have a party over after all, but she'd wanted to, wanted to have just a piece of a normal life, and this was normal too, people not showing up to stupid parties, brothers forgetting, people just not caring. Maybe she'd been a little too concerned over her abnormal life to realize just how much normal life could stink too.
"Oh… Kagome are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure." She waved and smiled some more, but quickly turned away before the illusion failed. As she walked toward the exit she could hear Keiko turning on both of them again, and rushed to leave before an even larger scene was caused.
The arcade was only a few blocks from the apartment, an even shorter walk if she took a few alleys that Yusuke had shown her. So Kagome set off down the street, one hand absently playing with the jewel that was still in her pocket. She just wasn't comfortable leaving it anywhere still, she was half certain that it was just going to become a permanent addition to all of her outfits. Maybe putting it on a necklace or bracelet wouldn't have been such a bad idea anyway. She had been worried about someone seeing it, but so far the only person to come after it was Inuyasha, who would figure out that she had it even if she kept it hidden.
Absently Kagome turned around the corner into one of the alleys, curling her fingers around the jewel as she walked slowly down the dark passage, trying to stay in the center where she could still make out most of what was around her and avoid many of the obstacles littering the ground in the dim lighting.
Something shifted in the darkness to her side, her pulse speeding suddenly Kagome turned that direction, her arms coming protectively together in front of her. Nervously she held her breath, straining her eyes to see into the darkness. For a long moment she stood where she was, every one of her senses ripping itself apart in an attempt to identify and locate whatever was hiding just beyond her line of sight. Mentally she berated herself for her fear, for stopping when she should be running if there really was something. Anxiously she turned on her toe and propelled herself forward, her heart pounding relentlessly in her throat, drowning out any other sound that that might have found her ears.
She attempted to scream as the hand caught her arm, but it came out a gasp as she was thrown into the concrete wall of one of the buildings. Pain exploded through her back and skull at the impact, it radiated downward into her legs, jarring her knees so violently they gave out beneath her and she slid in a daze to kneel on the ground.
A hand closed around her neck, dragging her still limp body back up along the wall by her chin. In her haze all Kagome could do was stare helplessly at the creature that had a hold of her.
It was close to human in form, at least it had been at first, but as it held her there the horns she'd only seen glimmering through in the previous moments materialized and the tan sun damaged skin of a human melted away to reveal an odd blue-grey color. But it was the eyes that drew Kagome's attention and dominated her blurred vision. The thing's eyes hadn't looked remotely human from the start; they had been dark, but glowed with foul intentions and wickedness. As she stared into them, the orbs rapidly became more horrific.
"I know you have something." The voice was low, breaking through her pounding heartbeat, echoing as if it had entered her as a vibration through her skin rather than her ears "Whatever it is you will give it to me."
"I… I don't…" Her voice was barely a gasp that nearly died as he gripped harder, bringing her hands up to pull at his, her feeble grip unable to force him to release despite her best efforts.
"I know it; now tell me what it is and where it is so I can devour that appetizingly large soul of yours." The tip of its claw slid down the side of her face, pressing hard enough to inflict pain without actually drawing blood.
"No…" Her pulse hadn't slowed, but she could feel the pressure of it in her throat rather than in her ears. Her vision blurred further as her lungs burned and she fought to draw in a breath that wouldn't come. Seconds passed and her body began numbing, her arms falling heavily to her sides as she was unable to hold them up, and her power remained dormant inside her. She couldn't call it up to her, couldn't even attempt to harness it to save herself as she'd used it to save others.
"I'll find it either way human."
Darkness pressed in on the edges of her vision and her eyelids continued to fall no matter how she fought to keep them up, screamed at herself to stay awake, to do something. Her brain raged, but her body was helpless, no longer possessing the strength required to fulfill her mental demands. She thought she heard a voice, but her panicked brain couldn't place it, not that it mattered, it was probably just another death threat from the demon. Yellow light flashed across her vision just before her eyelids finally fell closed and Kagome felt herself fall into blackness.
Xxx
"Disgusting." The man glanced at the unconscious form of the girl, then to the grotesque creature beside her and finally to the taller man standing beside him. He watched his employer take a step forward to look down at the young woman, "This is unexpected."
"Sir?"
The tall man turned back, walked toward the street and the dark car that gleamed beneath a nearby streetlight, "Bring her."
"Sir? Are you…"
"Now." That tone always meant trouble, particularly if someone disobeyed it. Swallowing nervously he rushed forward to lift the small girl into his arms and practically ran to place her in the back seat of the car.